Monthly Archives: March 2016

On 24 March 1958, Elvis Presley was admitted into the U.S. Army. He signed up at the induction station in Memphis, TN, and eventually arrived at Fort Hood, TX for training. Presley left Fort Hood September 19, 1958 to join the 3rd Armored Division in Germany, where he completed his required two years of active duty.

Presley’s connection to West Point? His hit song “Love Me Tender” was an adaptation of a Civil War era song titled “Aura Lea” – which had earlier become associated with West Point as the song “Army Blue.”

From “Cadet Required Knowledge” (published by the United States Corps of Cadets at West Point): “Army Blue” is the traditional tune played for “Graduating Class, Front and Center, March” when the First Class steps out of ranks for the final time as cadets, and also played for the last dance at all hops. It had its beginning as the song of the Class of 1865. The first stanzas were written by L. W. Becklaw and the tune is that of an old minstrel song, “Aura Lea.” As years passed, innumerable verses were added to this and only a few of the more renowned can be presented. “Old plebe camp” has disappeared in the passing of Camp Clinton, once the scene of summer training. The words still live, however, with the Fourth Class Bivouac during the last week of Beast Barracks.

ARMY BLUE

We’ve not much longer here to stay,
For in a month or two,
We’ll bid farewell to “Cadet Gray,”
And don the “Army Blue.”

CHORUS: Army Blue, Army Blue,
Hurrah for the Army Blue,
We’ll bid farewell to “Cadet Gray,”
And don the “Army Blue.”

With pipe and song we’ll jog along,
Till this short time is through,
And all among our jovial throng,
Have donned the Army Blue.

(CHORUS):

T’was the song we sang in old plebe camp,
When first our Gray was new.
The song we sang on summer nights,
That song of Army Blue.

(CHORUS)

Now, fellows, we must say goodbye,
We’ve stuck our four years thru,
Our future is a cloudless sky,
We’ll don the Army Blue.

(CHORUS)

To the men and women of the Corps,
Who’ve seen their four years thru,
The work was hard, they did their part,
And all for Army Blue.

The USMA Library recently added a new database to its arsenal of electronic resources, Gallup Analytics. Featuring Gallup polling data from the United States and around the world, our new database incorporates the Gallup Brain (previously offered by the library) as one major component, however it is a much expanded resource. Gallup Analytics provides essential public opinion data that is invaluable to research in a wide range of departments including Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, Geography & Environmental Engineering, History, and Military Instruction – anywhere, in fact, that requires knowledge about how a given topic is viewed by the public.

Economic, social and well-being data collected since 2005 in over 160 countries

More than 80 metrics that are part of the Gallup Macroeconomic Path – a behavioral-based leadership model for successful societies

Country-specific dashboards

Searching:

Searches may be by Topic, Geography or Keyword. A Topic search is often a good starting point:

Note that your data source is either the World Poll or U.S. Daily.

I first searched for “Confidence in National Government” in Southeast Asian countries from 2014-15, ranking the results from most to least confident in the following table (exportable to an Excel spreadsheet):

Next, I compared “Confidence in National Government” among selected Southeast Asian countries for the time range 2012-15, creating the chart below:

Finally, I mapped the same metric for Asian-Pacific nations in 2014, which returned the map below:

The map view of the rankings is in varying shades of green. The Communist government in China, which allows restrictively limited Gallup polling, did not authorize this particular question, hence it is grayed out, as are North Korea and Papua New Guinea, given that Gallup doesn’t operate in those countries.

For incisive U.S. polling data and topical articles of interest, try searching the Gallup Brain. In addition to historical polling results from 1935 to the present day, current articles cover a wide spectrum of topics ranging from the public’s perception of foreign trade, affordability of housing, health and healthcare, crime, governance, perceptions of Presidential candidates, how Americans view Israel and France (favorably overall), and how we are viewed by the rest of the world (positively overall).

HINT: If this box appears at the bottom of your screen, click close to see the link to Gallup Brain.

Summary:

For novices, navigation can be a bit tricky when setting up metrics for the desired search results. For example, you will need to tweak your metrics when shifting from tables to charts and maps. That said, it becomes less a problem the more one uses the database. As always, ask a Librarian for assistance if you have any questions when using our research products.

Overall, this is a superlative resource to use for both domestic and public opinion data and is a very helpful addition to the library’s offerings.

The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. No endorsement or recommendation of any specific products or services is intended or implied.

Contents contributed by Michael G. Arden, Audio-Visual Librarian and Liaison Librarian to the Department of Social Sciences, and Manja Yirka, Continuing Resources Librarian and Liaison Librarian to the Department of Chemistry and Life Sciences.